Canterbury Bulldogs and Brisbane Broncos meet at Accor Stadium on Thursday night in a final-round NRL contest between two sides whose 2026 campaigns have fallen well short of expectations.
The Bulldogs enter the match in 10th place and are strong favourites to finish the season with a win in front of their home supporters. Brisbane, 15th on the ladder, have endured a particularly disappointing campaign as defending premiers and are already out of finals contention.
Yet the Broncos have reason to believe they can cause an upset. They have won eight of their past nine meetings with Canterbury, giving them a formidable recent record against the Bulldogs despite their struggles this season.
The match will also mark Payne Haas’s final appearance for Brisbane. The prop is leaving the Broncos at the end of the year to join South Sydney, where he will reunite with Wayne Bennett, the coach who handed him his NRL debut in 2018.
Haas and Broncos captain Pat Carrigan came through the club’s junior ranks together and helped Brisbane win the 2025 premiership. Carrigan has said he is determined to give his close friend the send-off he deserves.
Brisbane have managed only seven victories this season and will become the first reigning premiers in two decades to miss the NRL finals. They will hope to end that disappointing run by spoiling Canterbury’s final home fixture of the campaign.
Kick-off is scheduled for 7.50pm on Thursday, September 3, 2026.
